Marshall Faulk proved naysayers wrong in NFL

In the months leading up to the 1994 NFL draft, there still were some non-believers.

The Times-Picayune archiveMarshall Faulk is the only player in NFL history with at least 12,000 yards rushing and 6,000 yards receiving.

A few analysts, scouts and even coaches questioned the pro potential of Marshall Faulk, a New Orleans native who had become one of the country's most accomplished running backs at San Diego State.

Was Faulk big enough?

Could he be an every-down back?

Was his production in college a product of the competition?

Bill Tobin, the general manager of the Indianapolis Colts whose team had the No. 2 and No. 5 overall picks in the draft, had no such concerns. The veteran executive, who had selected Walter Payton nearly two decades earlier, was impressed with Faulk's elusiveness, speed, vision and catching ability.

In other words, Tobin said, Faulk was the total package.

On draft day the Colts, who were 4-12 the season before, quickly swooped up Faulk with the No. 2 pick after the Cincinnati Bengals used the No. 1 pick to select Ohio State defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson.

"The No. 1 thing that attracted us to him was his versatility, his ability to catch the ball as well as run with the ball from the backfield," Tobin said. "He was very talented in both areas; he was our No. 1 guy."

Not every one agreed.

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper said the Colts should have taken Heath Shuler or Trent Dilfer, two highly regarded quarterbacks, with their pick. When Tobin picked Faulk and later passed again on Dilfer with the No. 5 pick, Kiper chastised the Colts for passing on what he figured were two franchise quarterbacks.

Tobin didn't care for the ridicule and famously fired back: "Who in the hell is Mel Kiper, anyway? I mean, here's a guy who criticizes everybody, whoever they take. In my knowledge of him, he's never even put on a jockstrap, he's never been a player, he's never been a coach, he's never been a scout, he's never been an administrator, and all of a sudden he's an expert. Mel Kiper has no more credentials to do what he's doing than my neighbor, and my neighbor's a postman -- and he doesn't even have season tickets to the NFL."

"There were questions whether I could help turn this franchise around," said Faulk, who finished his 13-year NFL career with 12,279 rushing yards. "I went to a small school, and they didn't know if I could handle the punishment or if I was tough enough or big enough or fast enough. It was all the things that the so-called experts do to make themselves look good."

Faulk proved Kiper wrong, and on Saturday he's set to become the first New Orleans native to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Warren Easton graduate Steve Van Buren, who was inducted in 1965, was born in La Ceiba, Honduras).

Getting started

Faulk had immediate success in the NFL.

He ran with speed and authority and caught the ball with ease out of the backfield; he was able to do much of the same things he did when he ran at a record pace in college.

Faulk rushed for 1,282 yards, which was the 10th-best performance by a rookie in NFL history, and caught 52 passes for 522 yards. He accounted for 40 percent of the Colts' total offense.

His rookie season, in which he helped the Colts improve to 8-8, was validated by him receiving The Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year and being selected to the AFC Pro Bowl.

The yardage kept piling up, and his fame continued to grow. Suddenly he was one of the biggest stars in the game.

But he wasn't truly happy.

For a kid who grew up in the Desire housing development, one of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in the nation, everything was happening too fast. Faulk was a millionaire, and at 21 years old, he had big decisions to make.

"It was a little different (in the NFL)," Faulk said. "It wasn't the fun game that we played anymore. They had a business element to it. And if you don't learn and understand that business element, it can deter you away from being successful within the game."

Faulk adapted, though.

He rolled off four 1,000-yard rushing campaigns in his first five seasons with Indianapolis. By the 1997 season, however, the Colts, who had made it to the AFC championship game in 1995, had regressed.

Although Faulk was a perennial Pro Bowl player, the team was set to rebuild. Tobin and Coach Lindy Infante were fired. Jim Mora was hired to coach, and Bill Polian was the new general manager.

A year later, Faulk, who was seeking a new contract, was the next to go.

The Colts traded him to the Rams for second- and fifth-round draft picks.

"It was just time," Faulk said. "It was time. They had their idea of what they wanted to do and how they wanted things to go.

"I swear, I had no hard feelings for the Colts and their organization and what they decided to do. I enjoyed my time there."

Fresh start

It didn't take long for Faulk to make his presence felt with the Rams.

Armed with a seven-year, $45 million contract, Faulk quickly became a team leader.

Always considered one of the smartest and most cerebral players in the game, Faulk quickly took over helping the Rams understand the nuances of the offense.

"I'm glad I had an opportunity to cross paths with Marshall," former Rams receiver Tory Holt said. "I learned so much from him, not only on the football field but from a mental standpoint on how to prepare and how to get ready."

Quarterback Kurt Warner agreed.

"Marshall was a guy that when I first got there, he had just gotten traded to the Rams my first year there," Warner said. "Obviously, we all knew who Marshall Faulk was, and we were impressed just because of what he had accomplished.

"But then you go and you watch him practice. He was a pro, every snap, every play. He wanted to be great. You watch him in the meeting room, and he is coaching guys up. He's teaching guys. He is watching film, and you are going, 'Man, this is what it means to be a pro.' I was kind of in awe of him even when I was playing, and I was the quarterback. But I was like, 'this is Marshall. He is kind of the leader of the team.' "

Faulk was just waiting to relinquish his power, though. He needed to be sure Warner was ready to become the leader.

And soon enough he did.

After a tough loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 7 of the 1999 season, the Rams were down again the next week at Detroit. But Warner took over and led the Rams to a touchdown in the final two minutes.

After the touchdown, Faulk walked over to Warner on the sideline and tapped his chest, in essence turning over the reins of the team to Warner.

"He kind of pointed to his heart and gave me that seal of approval like, 'Hey, this is your team now. Now we all trust you; now I got your back. It's your team now,' " Warner said.

"It's amazing. I don't know if my play changed much, but my confidence changed because Marshall Faulk was the guy. He was the guy that made everything go in St. Louis. And for him to kind of give me that seal of approval in St. Louis was a turning point in my career, and that season that allowed me take to take that next step up and become the leader of that football team and help get us to a championship."

The moment proved to be pivotal. The Rams won 10 of their next 11 games, including Super Bowl XXXIV.

"There was nothing in the world better than that," said Faulk, who helped lead the Rams back to the 2002 Super Bowl at the Superdome, although they lost to the New England Patriots. "Nothing. I know too many guys that I am good friends with, they never won one, and they wished they had."

Greatest Show on Turf

Faulk is the only player in NFL history with at least 12,000 yards rushing and 6,000 yards receiving.

With Faulk, who won NFL Offensive Player of the Year three consecutive years (1999 through 2001), having taken over as the NFL's top dual-threat running back, if not the game's best player, the Rams quickly emerged as the league's most feared offense and one of its best teams.

Midway through the 2000 season, with the offense scoring at a record pace in Mike Martz's system, ESPN's Chris Berman was looking for some cute phrase to describe the high-octane unit that feature Faulk, Warner, Holt and star receiver Isaac Bruce.

"Forget Ringling Brothers," Berman said. "The Rams are the Greatest Show on Earth."

Soon, "Earth" was replaced with "Turf" to signify the Rams' artificial playing surface.

"Coming over from Arizona and being on that team, we knew defensively that our offense always had an opportunity to score," said former Rams cornerback Aeneas Williams, a New Orleans native. "We knew the more turnovers we got the more points they would score.

"The thing I would remember most about that offense is when you have great players like Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce -- and when those great players are unselfish and they carry themselves like ordinary players, and yet they play like they played -- that created the environment for sustained success. And it all started with Marshall."

By 2002, Faulk's production began to slide. The Rams drafted Steven Jackson to be Faulk's replacement in 2004.

Injuries set in. Before the Rams opened camp in 2006, the team announced Faulk would need reconstructive surgery on his knee and miss the entire season.

The next year, Faulk, with no regrets, announced his retirement.

"I played 13 years," Faulk said. "I had a bad knee. If you can tell any player that he can play 13 years on turf and only have a bad knee, I guarantee you he'd take it.

"I went into the NFL knowing that I could not play this game for the rest of my life. I knew it would end; I wasn't sure how it was going to end."

It ended with his No. 28 jersey being retired and with a bust in Canton, Ohio.

"It's the ultimate," Faulk said. "You play a team game, and sometimes it is individualized by accolades and things like that -- but I can see no greater honor than me going into the Hall of Fame. I wish I could put it into words. After the experience and what I go through as I go through it, I'm sure I can tell you. I have no expectations. I'm just looking forward to it."